Automatic end-cell switch.



ATENTED FEB. 12, 1907.

J. BIJUR. AUTOMATlG BND CELL SWITCH.

APPLIOATION FILED SBPT.13.1905.

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1o particularly adapted to those systems of when the current vdischarge and -to receive charge,

exfrnNr Orinon.

ASSIGNOR TO THE GENERAL STORAGE A CORPORATTON OF NEW YORK.

AUTOMATIC END-CELL SWITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 12, 1907.

Application filed September 13, 1905. Serial No. 278.337.

To all, whom, it 'ma/y concern:

Be it known that L-JosEPH BIJUR, a cit-izen ot the United States, and resident of the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic End-Cell Switches, of which the following is a specification accompanied by drawings.

This invention relates to end-cell switchies,

r 1stribution in which a storage battery is used4 for the purpose of reinforcing the generator and assisting it to supply current to the load demands exceed a certain predetermined limit and also to maintain the load on the generator substantially constant, althougli the invention may be used in any connection in which it is applicable; When the current demanded by the load is less th an the normal generator supply, the excess current lows into the battery charging it, When the load is in excess of the generator-load, this stored energy in the cells is given out to vsupply that excess above-the normal generator-load. The normal generator-load is the average of the external load, so that the amount of battery input' i-s approximately equal to the battery output-that is, the time integral of' the excess of current output to external load above the average load taken over any considerable unit of time is approximately equal to the time integral of the current input to the battery.

In Order that the battery may be caused to the electromotive force across the battery-terminals is varied, and this required variation is practically proportional to the amount of current flowing into or out of the battery. 1n order to effect this change of electromotive Jforce at the battery-terminals, it has been customary to employ dynamo-electric machines in series with the battery-circuit, which machines are so wound or controlled that their electromotive torce changes in magnitude and direction to cause charge and discharge of the battery and by an amount whichis required to maintain the generator-load constant.

The object of this invention is to secure the charge and discharge of the battery automatically without the vuse of an auxiliary dynamo-electric machine;

Further objects of the invention will hereinafterappear; and to these ends the invention consists of an end-cell switch for carrying out the above objects embodying the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts having the general mode of operation substantially as ,hereinafter fully described and claimed` in l this specification and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which the ligure is a diagrammatic view of the switch, artly in section, with suitable circuits an connections therefor.

In the drawing a rapid-acting or highspeed cell-switch is shown, which varies its position, and thereby varies the number of cells in series responsive to load changes. Obviously the variation of the number of cells in series w1ll change the electromotive force ot the battery as a whole.

C C2 O3, &c., are contacts between which one or more end cells of a battery are connected. G is a brush which travels along these contacts successively, joining them to the bus-bar G V is an advance brush, traveling with the main brush G, insulated therefrom and electrically joined to it by resistance Q The object of this brush is to prevent either the i opening. of the circuit or the short-circuiting of the cells between adjacent contacts.

The movement of brush G is effected b means of the piston K working in cylinder The valve D receives a fluid under suitable pressure through pipe 24. Two pipes 22 l and 23 connect at one end of cylinder E, and l at the other end two pipes 20 and 21 connect, all leadin to the valve D. In the position of the va ve as shown the valve-'ports are halt` open. The Working fluid enters by pipe 24, plasses out through pipe 21 into the cylinder i and out through pipe 20, whence it Jfalls into any suitable receiving-tank. Some of the fluid passes through pipe 22 into cylinder E and returningby pipe 23 into any suitable receiving tank. (Not shown.) Thus on both sides of the piston K the iluid is in continuous circulation.

It the working fluid be oil and if the valve be moved upward, pipes 2() and 22 will be closed, 21 .and 23 will be open, with the result that no oil cari leave the lett-hand side of l the cylinder, and the port admitting oil through pipe 21 is fully open. Also no liquid is admitted by 22 to the right-hand side of the cylinder; but the pipe 23, leading to the drops core and the attached valve to its normal drip-tank, is fully open. The piston K therefore must move to the right, carrying with it the brush G, which is connected to the piston by rod F, the oil in the right-hand side exhausting through pipe 23. Conversely, if the valve moves downward it is obvious that a reverse movement of the piston will take place. The object of causing the liquid to circulate'continuously is that rapid motion and uick acceleration may be imparted to the plston and attached brush.

It is essential that the brush G should move exactly over a contact and not come to rest at some position between two adjacent contacts, and the other devices and connections shown are to cause this exact range of movement to take place.

O is a solenoid, in this instance in series with the main circuit, attractin core N upward, which attraction upward is opposed by spring P. This 'core is connected to sliding contacts L and M, which are insulated from each other and from the core by means of the insulation I. These contacts move along a commutator, preferably straight, (indicated by the numerals 1 2 3 4, &c.) Corresponding to each commutator-bar there is an auxiliary contact on the end-cell switch, which contacts are numbered 1a 2a 3a 4, &c., to correspond t-o the commutator-bars to which they are joined. The valve D is controlled by the movement of the solenoid-core A,.which is surrounded by two coils B and C. If B is energized, it is obvious that the core A will move u ward, while if C is energized A will move ownward. The two equalizing-springs S and S2 will always return the central position.

Following the circuits, starting with line 27, which passes to a terminal of each one of the coils B and C, it is obvious that if line 25 is part of a continuous circuit B will be energized, while if line 26 is part of a continuous circuit C will be energized. Line 26 is joined to contact L and line 25 to Contact M, as shown. Since wire 27 is attached to the positive side of the battery, if wires 25 or 26 be connected to the negative side of the battery the corresponding coil of the valve moving solenoids B and C will be energized.

Therefore if contacts L or M touch a commutator-segment, which is joined to the auxiliary contact on which the traveling end H of contact G rests, it is clear that B or `C will be energized as the circuit is com leted.

In the drawing the piece Hp touches auxiliary contact 5a. Contact M also touches auxiliary contact 5. Consequenty the circuit is completed at the positive end of the battery through wire 27, winding B, to contact M by connection 25, to commutator-bar 5, thence to auxiliary contact 5a, and to the negative bus-bar G. The Winding B now being energized will cause the core A to move upward, l

and the piston K will begin to travel toward the right. This travel will be continued until contact-piece H passes off of the contact 5a, and the new position will therefore be immediately on main contact C. In other words, the main end-cell-switch brush must always traveluntil the piece H rests on an auxiliary contact that is joined to a commutator-bar, which bar is not touched by either contacts L or M.

It is obvious that if the-outside load R R requires an increased current the magnetization of winding O will be increased and the core N will move upward, carrying with it contacts L and M, while if thel load decreases the spring P will overcome the pull of the winding O, and the core N, together with contacts L and M, will descend. For any given external load there will be a definite po-l sition of the solenoid-core, and therefore of the contacts L and M, whilefor any given battery charge or discharge there is a definite number of end cells to be included in the circuit. For each position of contacts L andM there is manifestlya corresponding position of the mainbrush G. Therefore with load changes the required changes in the number of cells in series will be effected. An increase in external load will produce an increase in the number of cells in series, and therefore an increase in battery discharge, and by proper adjustment this charge may be equal to the increase in load, so that the amount `of current supplied by the generator` is not augmented, although that delivered to the outside load is augmented.4

Since on rapidly fluctuating loads the changes in current requirements take place invery short intervals of time, it is essential that the movement of the switch be very rapid in order to compensate for these changes in current condition, and for this reason it has been considered advisable to adopt a hydraulic system in which the actuating Huid constantly circulates, as before described. In ordinary end-cell switches, whether automatic or semi-automatic, the movement of the brush is too slow to compensate for rapid load changes. The speed of motion of end-cell switches as made at present varies from six to ten feet per minute-that is to say, inalarge end cell switch IOO IIO

of one thousand amperes capacity or over the time required for the brush to move from one contact to the next adjacent one is from four to eight seconds. Obviously such rates of speed would be useless for the purposes which this invention is designed to effect. In the automatic hydraulic switch here described it is intended that the motion shall take place with more than iive times this velocity-say from thirty to fifty feet per minute. Preferablythe rapidity ofmotion of this switch when the total travel'is long will be one hundred feet per minute or above, and it is intended that it shall move eight to ten contacts` within' one second.

Obviously this invention may be embodied in widely-varying forms, and some features of the invention may be used without others.

Therefore, without limiting the invention to the constructions shown and described nor enumerating equivalents, I claim, and desire to obtain by Letters Patent, the following:

1. The combination with a supply-circuit and end cells cfa storage battery, of an endcell switch, a pressure-cylinder and pistonconnected to operate the switch, means for continuously circulating the working fluid on each side oi the piston, an electroresponsive device for controlling said piston and cylinder, and means including circuits and connections devised and arranged for controlling said electroresponsive device and thereby automatically changing the position of the switch to include more or less'eells in series, according to changes 1n the current conditions of the supply-circuit.

2. The combination with a supply-circuit and the end cells of a storage battery, oi" an end-cell switch, a pressure-cylinder and piston connected to operate the switch, means for continuously circulating the working iluid on each side of the piston, a controllingvalve for controlling the circulation oi the fluid on both sides of the piston and thereby actuating the piston, means for controlling said valve in accordancewith changes in the ,urrent conditions of the working circuit, including circuits and connections devised and arranged for automatically changing the )osition of the switch to include more or css cells in series, according to changes in the current conditions of the supply-circuit.

.5. The combination with a supply-circuit,

.and the end cells of a storage battery, of an end-cell switch having a main switch-brush and main contacts, a hud-{ressure device for actuating said swltch, a us-bar and set of lauxiliary contacts corresponding to the main contacts, a set of connnutator-bars corresponding to said sets of contacts, electric vswitch-brush and movable over connections between the auxiliary contacts and the commutator-bars, a pair of sliding contactieees movable together over said bars an insulated from each other, a contact-piece electrically connected to the main the auxiliary contacts, a valve for the fluid-pressure device controlled by magnets jointly connected .at one side to the storage batter and separately connected at the other sic e to the said sliding contact-pieces, whereby the motion of said contact-pieces energizes one or the other of said magnets.

.4. The combination with a supply-circuit and the end cells of a storage battery, of an end-cell switch, a fluid-pressure device for actuating said switch, two separate controlling contact-pieces insulated from cach other, a set of contacts or bars over which said contact-pieces are movable, electric connections between the bars and the switch, a

valve controlling the iluidncssure device, an electric regulator control ing the contactpieces, and electric means for actuating said valve whenever the regulator actuates the said contact-pieces.

5. The combination with a supply-circuit and the end cells of a storage battery, of an end-cell switch having Inain contacts and a brush coperating therewith, a luid-pressure device for actuating said switch, two separate controlling contact-pieces insulated irem each other, a set of' contacts or bars over which said contact-pieces are movable, electric connections between the bars and the switch, a valve controlling the iluidressure device, an electric regulator contro ling the contactieces, and electric means for actuating sai valve Whenever the regulator actuates the said contact-pieces, and means whereby the switch-brush is caused to como to rest substantially centrally upon one el" said main contacts.

ln vtestimony whereof" I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' JOSEl.ll BIJUlt. Witnesses:

OLIN A. Fos'rna, HERBERT G. OGDEN, Sr. 

